FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT MARKETING STRATEGY - PAGE 5

WARSAW/POLAND: A Polish mobile operator said on Friday it had hired actors to stand in line to buy Apple's iPhone as the ubiquitous device went on sale for the first time in the eastern European country. The company, Orange, said it hired the fake iPhone customers as a way to stimulate interest in the mobile device, which has generated huge and genuine demand in the United States, Japan, Germany and elsewhere. "It was a part of our marketing strategy, the concept was thought up at Orange Poland," the company told The Associated Press in an e-mail.

MORENA: Rahul Gandhi today said the "balloon" of Gujarat model of development will burst the same way as 'India Shining' did in 2004. Addressing a campaign rally at Bhimrao Stadium here, the Congress vice president said 'India Shining' was a marketing strategy, and in the same way, the Gujarat model has nothing to do with the reality. "The balloon of Gujarat model would burst in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections," he said. The BJP's manifesto is almost a copy of the Congress manifesto, Gandhi claimed.

As part of its marketing strategy, Barista Coffee Company Ltd is planning to launch a host of consumer promotions at its outlets in 2003. For the purpose, the company is currently in talks with many entertainment, consumer goods and music companies which include, the US-based Bose Corporation, Swatch and International Travel House among others, senior company executive said. The objective behind the move is to leverage co-marketing opportunities and alliances to offer greater value to its consumers.

KOLKATA: Consumer durables maker Electrolux India seems to be taking its recently adopted marketing strategy of targeting women consumers rather seriously. The company has decided to set up dealer showrooms exclusively owned, (wo)manned and operated by women managers. Electrolux, which plans to set up these exclusive outlets throughout the country, claims to have already received over 200 enquires on this from Delhi alone. The first of these outlets is scheduled to come up in Delhi next month.

MUMBAI: Sterlite Optical Technologies on Friday said it has bagged contracts worth Rs 150 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India for manufacture and supply of power transmission conductors. The contracts entails manufacture and supply of 400kV and 765kV power transmission conductors to PGCIL, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The deliveries of the conductors are scheduled over the next 22 months are expected to commence this month, it said.

By Sharad Jaipuria MICRO, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have the potential to emerge as the best vehicle to fight with the ongoing economic slowdown and to create domestic demand. Going ahead, if India has to have a growth trajectory of 10 percent for the next couple of decades, it should strengthen the MSME sector at state level, without which it cannot be achieved. It has been observed that formal MSMEs contribute up to 45 percent of employment and up to 33 percent of GDP in developing economies.

KP Narayana Kumar India's go-to person for tourism, the man who branded Kerala as "God's own country", and turned the southern state into one of the busiest tourist destinations in the country, simply cannot come to terms with the devastation in Uttarakhand. Amitabh Kant, who is credited with pioneering tourism marketing in India, believes the tragedy is because of a significant error of judgement of the state authorities. "Uttarakhand should not have taken the path of industrialisation for development and should have been developed as the best destination for sustainable tourism in the world.

KOLKATA: Bengal's ubiquitous 'bagaan bari' or country house is now undergoing a change in concept in the city's property market. In line with real-estate development in other metros, a few of Kolkata's leading real estate players are now developing 'organised' farm houses that are fast replacing the old stand-alone properties that were in demand till now. A total investment of around Rs 130 crore is currently flowing in the development of...

KOLKATA: New India Assurance (NIA), the largest Indian general insure, has appointed Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for guiding it on a transformation exercise that will include business as well as organisational restructuring. The exercise is aimed at retaining the number one position and increasing its market share in a decontrolled environment. Confirming the development, NIA chairman & managing director B Chakrabarti told ET: "BCG is on the job. They are in the process of preparing the report, on the basis of which we will implement the transformation exercise.

MICHIGAN: General Motors Co., after ditching costly Super Bowl ads, is betting a five-year sponsorship of the Manchester United soccer club to bolster its Chevrolet line in the first test of the brand's new global marketing strategy. Manchester United has a worldwide reach that fits with the automaker's desire to make Chevrolet a global icon, Paul Edwards, GM executive director of global marketing strategy, said in an interview prior to the announcement.